A prominent advocate of India’s apex court has alleged that the country’s national carrier Air India is practicing religious discrimination by serving only “halal” meat.
Terming it a violation of the Indian Constitution, Advocate Ishakaran Singh Bhandari revealed on Twitter that he has written to Aviation Minister Hardeep Puri, claiming the airline is violating the principle of equality by practicing social, religious and economic discrimination.
Have written to the Hon’ble Civil Aviation Minister @HardeepSPuri ji to
— Ishkaran Singh Bhandari (@ishkarnBHANDARI) December 5, 2019
end the Social, Economic, Religious discrimination done by Air India by buying and serving ONLY HALAL MEAT. pic.twitter.com/2eELRyrf4Z
“This is to bring to your notice that majority of Indians eat “Jhatka” meat, and this practice of selling only “halal” is discriminatory and forbidden by law, the lawyer sated.
The lawyer, who has handled several high-profile cases, filed a Right of Information (RTI) plea to which Air India responded.
RTI is a petition that obligates any public authority in India to provide information sought by a citizen of the country.
The advocate said: "As per the details of caterers provided by the Air India, it was found that they serve halal meat only."
While Jhatka meat is produced by slaughtering animal in one blow so that it causes least pain, halal meat is produced by killing the animal through a cut to the jugular vein.
The post created a buzz on Twitter with people terming it imposition of sharia laws (Islamic laws) on Hindus.
Shame on Government Of India for imposing Shariah Law on Hindus.
— #EqualRightsForHindus ॐ भारत ॐ 🇮🇳 (@_dharam_vir) December 5, 2019
Shame @PMOIndia ! This is persecution of Hindus.
This is very necessary to support @ishkarnBHANDARI sir he's the one fighting for all anti-national activity day and night my pranamam@HardeepSPuri
— Dr. culture (@Sujuvish) December 5, 2019
Good going, next time if I fly Air India I will ask what kind of non veg it is to make other passenger aware of this.
— Vidit Maheshwari (@viditmhs) December 5, 2019
Since so long I wanted someone to take up the issue other airline like GoAir also serve halal meet even to non Muslim
— Ajeet Deshwal (@ajeetdeshwal) December 5, 2019
The lawyer is known for taking up issues of religious and social importance.
In January 2019, Bhandari wrote to then Home Minister Rajnath Singh accusing Twitter of unfair practices which he said “may prove to be a threat to national security”.
“Twitter Inc has been targeting several individual accounts based on religious, ideological, political views. It has been deliberately targeting individual accounts that do not subscribe to the leftist ideology,” he said, adding that several users who hold patriotic views and speak in favour of the present government (Bharatiya Janata Party) have complained of similar bias.
